Chateau Musar Red, Bekaa Valley 2016

Descrizione

One of the most significant wines to come from Lebanon and one of the most-loved to boot, this is wine from a region that has a very long history of wine production from the wedding of Canaa in Galilee to the Irish forces helping ferry the grapes from vineyard to winery over the front-line during Lebanon’s 15-year Civil War.

This is a land that has incredible natural richness; Musar itself is blessed with iron-rich red soils that support vines with vivid green growth and grapes that ripen perfectly with the benefits of a large diurnal temperature range.

Made from old vines, the vineyards are planted with Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignan and Cinsault: in some vintages the different components show more than others (it might be more of a Cabernet vintage one year and may a Cinsault one the next) but it always, always tastes like Musar.

The iron-rich soils give something iodine-like, before black fruit, cinnamon, licorice and clove notes develop on the palate. And while on the palate, what felt like it might be rich and full, develops into an elegant, supple, rewarding and complex wine with fine-grained tannins and a long life ahead of it.